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Solar Decision-Making Guide

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NEWS BRIEFS

As photovoltaic residential, commercial, utility, and government installations increase, so does the need for recycling/repurposing modules that are found defective, damaged, or degraded at any stage from factory gate through post installation. PV Recycling, LLC's mission is to prevent inappropriate, unnecessary, and less cost effective disposal methods. PV Recycling works with module manufacturers to develop "take-back" processes, manage module registries, oversee collection, perform testing, and recycle modules. They believe in keeping modules out of local community waste streams, and responsibly reintroducing reclaimed materials into manufacturing processes for new modules and other products. http://pvrecycling.com/

NREL's Open PV Mapping Project. The Open PV Project is a community driven database of Photovoltaic (PV) installations. The goal of this project is to collect, organize and distribute knowledge of the location (city & county), size, cost and date of every PV installation in United States. The project is actively seeking contributions. Contributors may sign up to become an Open PV Project member and start contributing data! http://openpv.nrel.gov/

At least 30 US states could meet all internal electricity needs from renewable energy generated inside their borders, according to a report from The Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The updated edition of "Energy Self-Reliant States" includes onshore and offshore wind, solar and geothermal power. According to the report, all 36 states with either renewable energy goals or renewable energy mandates could meet them by relying on in-state renewable fuels. Current federal energy policy largely focuses on harnessing the renewable energy in a handful of states, constructing extra-high-voltage national transmission network, and transporting that energy a thousand or more miles to customers in other regions. A typical North Dakota commercial wind turbine can produce electricity at a cost about 30% less than one in Ohio. But in most cases, this results in only modest variations in the retail price of energy when the cost of transporting the energy is taken into account. The report says centralized renewable energy might not be in the nation's best economic interests, even when the cost-benefit analysis focuses solely on the impact on the retail price. Some states have clearly indicated a desire to harness renewable energy within their borders. For example, Washington offers solar incentive payments based on the portion of the panels made in the state, as well as reserving incentives for community solar. www.ilsr.org/

SO, YOU WANT TO GO SOLAR?
- A Decision-Making Guide
by Jennifer Barker

  So, you've decided you want to go solar. You've analyzed your energy use, implemented efficiency measures, and you're ready to pursue the installation wholeheartedly. Of course, you have certain ideas about doing stuff yourself, saving money, and oh, you want to have it completed as soon as possible.
  Is this feasible? Can you have everything you want, or do you have to make tradeoffs? Only you can say what you want to do, and what you are capable of, but there are many factors to consider.
  Here's a simple little flowchart to help you make the decisions&ldots;

  decision-making flowchart

Cost Assessment

  So now we have another aspect of the installation to consider: cost. This is a major consideration in most people's decision-making process, and I know that most of you are familiar with the "cheap, good, easy" triangle. It looks something like this ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------->>
  What this means is that if you want something cheap, it must either be difficult, or if it is both cheap and easy to do, the results will be something less than "good." If you want a result that is both good and easy (for you), you must be willing to pay the appropriate amount to have someone do the work for you. If you want something that is both cheap and good, you must be willing to put the effort in to do a difficult project (but the results can be very rewarding).

 

cheap-good-easy triangle

Planning

  It helps to plan everything carefully to estimate how much time your project will take. There are several phases to installing a solar electric system: designing the system and ordering components, preparing the infrastructure and support structures, and the installation itself. Special-order equipment can take six weeks to two months, and if you are prepared for that, you can use the intervening time profitably to make sure everything is ready when it arrives.

False Economy

  False economy refers to an action which saves money at the beginning, but over a longer period of time results in more money being wasted than was saved. For example, one false economy often seen in solar electric installations is the purchase (or continued use of) improperly sized or non-MPPT (old technology) charge controllers. Their use is false economy because if the owner spent a few hundred dollars more on a charge controller designed to maximize the solar array's performance, it would increase the power output by more than the added cost for the controller.
  It's also false economy to skimp on features that will help you receive a tax credit, like permitting and inspecting as required for an Oregon Residential Energy Tax Credit. An Oregon homeowner is considered qualified to take out a building permit and do electric or plumbing work on their own residence. The signed-off permit is the state's seal of approval on the installation's compliance with appropriate building codes. The $3.00 per installed watt Residential Energy Tax Credit, up to a maximum of $6,000, goes a long way towards paying for increased safety and performance features.
  If a person works backwards, deciding how much energy they want to produce before assessing needs, then asking how to acquire the hardware most cheaply, they are asking the wrong question.

True economy is:

  • determining actual needs after energy efficiency measures have been accomplished

  • designing a system that coordinates components to provide for those needs as effectively as possible
  • installing it in a way that achieves the desired quality while maximizing the participation of the owner according to his/her abilities

Cheap Energy is the Problem, Not the Answer

  We are used to deciding how much energy we want (based on how much we are accustomed to using) and then asking how we can produce that amount as cheaply as possible.
  For us to be successful at living with renewable energy, we have to turn this question around and ask: what do I want to accomplish with energy, and how much energy do I really need to get that done? Then we must ask, how do I produce that amount of energy most effectively, and how do I coexist with my energy system so that I work most effectively with the amount it is producing under the conditions of the current day?
  If we ask these questions, we will find that living with renewable energy is really not at all "expensive" and that we can easily have what we need to be comfortable and productive. Can we find eternal happiness with our solar systems? That part is up to us!

Northwest News Roundup

Feed-in Tariffs Proposed for Oregon.Oregonians for Renewable Energy Policy (OREP) is helping to design and support adoption of Feed-In Tariff (FIT) policies for Oregon. Their goal is to produce good social, economic and environmental outcomes at reasonable costs. OREP is working with the Oregon Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to put forward a "straw proposal" as a beginning point for an Administrative Rule for a Feed-In Tariff bill. FITs will only affect customers of Publicly Owned Utilities (PGE, Pacific Power, & Idaho Power). OREP contacts are mostly by email and conference call. If you are interested in participating in the process, contact Judy Barnes jbarnes~at~hevanet.com.

Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit Cost More Than Planned. The Oregon Department of Energy is scrutinizing the Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC), now projected to cost the state $163 million in the current two-year budget. An investigation by the Oregonian newspaper found the tax credit cost many times more than originally projected, and that some companies abused the credits or failed to meet state requirements. In August, Gov. Ted Kulongoski ordered a review of the tax credit program, and has now proposed to cap the program's cost, prioritize projects within the cap and implement other accountability measures. "This report outlines smart, short-term improvements to the Business Energy Tax Credit program that will ensure continued growth in manufacturing and energy efficiency, but creates an alternative approach for more mature industries like large-scale wind," Governor Kulongoski said. Under his recommendations, the current 50% model would remain in place for projects under $100,000, but the tax credit for large-scale wind energy projects would be phased out by 2014. http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/press_2009.shtml

Bob Maynard Joins OutBack Power Systems. Long-time EORenew supporter Bob Maynard has been appointed to OutBack Power System's Board of Directors. Maynard has previously served as board member and President for the Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association and the Josephine County Renewable Energy Task Force. Maynard was the founder of Energy Outfitters, an Oregon company which grew to become one of the top five national solar distribution companies by 2004. "I look forward to working with OutBack as we focus on customer driven product development," said Maynard. www.outbackpower.com/news/

 

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